Two Cowboys To Protect Her by Lacey Davis
Chapter 2
Life at twenty-eight was a lot different than his younger years, but still Harley Kerr's past rode him hard. Sitting at a table with his partner in the Blessing saloon, he stared at the telegram from his father.
Rage filled him like a Texas river flash flood. How had the man found him and what the hell made him contact him after almost eight years? Hell would freeze over before he forgave his old man.
“What does he want?” his friend and partner in the Texas Rangers asked.
“For me to come to work for him. He’s offering me ten thousand dollars to work at the mercantile with him,” Harley said with a sigh. “Hell, when I was a kid, he barely gave me a nickel a day to work for him."
Clayton shook his head, his long dark hair brushing his shoulders. “What are you going to do?”
That was the million-dollar question. He was tired of being a Texas Ranger. Of chasing after bad guys and always being on the road. No, he wasn’t old, but he’d been doing this for almost ten years, and it was time to settle down. Time to get off the road.
Being a ranger was not the occupation for a husband and father. And he wanted to be both. Surely, he could do better than his old man had. Hell, anyone could be a better father than his. All that was required was to keep your fists to yourself.
“Don’t know yet,” he said, stuffing the telegram in his pocket. “He’s trying to worm his way back into my life. Why in the world would I put myself in a position for him to abuse me again? Why would I help that bastard?”
“There is the store. It’s your inheritance,” Clayton said.
Maybe so, but not really what he wanted in life.
“If the old man was dying, I might consider it, but he’s just putting out the offer of ten thousand dollars as bait to draw me back to the fold.”
For a moment, he considered his brothers and sisters and wondered if they had fared any better than he had with their papa.
A fight broke out in the corner by the card tables. Men were screaming to stop before they went for the sheriff.
All the anger rose inside him. Right now, it was what Harley needed. He got up from his chair and felt his face tightened as his hands curled into fists.
“Harley,” Clayton warned.
Strolling over to the fight, he yelled at the two men, “Texas Ranger. Don’t give me the pleasure of arresting you two. Or if you do, please resist. My fists need something to punch.”
The men halted and glanced at him, breathing hard.
“I don’t see no badge,” the younger man said.
Harley's insides tensed as he walked up to the young kid.
“You don’t have to see my badge.” He grabbed him by the collar and lifted the man. “My partner is behind me, and after the day I’ve had, I’d love nothing better than to use you for a punching bag. You up for the challenge?”
The man’s eyes widened. “No.”
“I didn’t think so,” he said, wishing he could have gotten a few punches in.
Knowing he was out of line, but still trembling with the need to hit something, he released the man. “Now, I’m going over there to finish enjoying my drink. Don’t make me get up again or I’ll haul your ass down to the city jail in pieces.”
“Yes, sir,” both men said.
Harley returned to his table and sank down across from Clayton.
“Sons of bitches,” he said softly.
In a few minutes, the waitress brought a second shot of whiskey. “From the bartender. He said thank you.”
People returned to drinking or playing cards.
“No problem,” he said, lifting the glass in the man’s direction.
This was why he became a law officer, protecting and helping people unlike anyone had helped or defended him and his mother. No one was there for them, so he was determined to be there for others.
The first nine years had been good and he’d gotten much of his frustration out by catching criminals, but now he was ready for a different kind of life. And as much as he didn’t want to take his father’s offer, it was intriguing.
“That telegram has really riled you up,” Clayton said.
“I’m torn. My father is the devil, and I would never want to return to work for him, but yet, I’m tired of riding the range, always being on the road. I’m ready to settle down. Find a woman, have a couple of kids. Hopefully, be a better father than my own dear old papa.”
Clayton glanced around the saloon. “For years, we’ve talked of trying to find a woman who would agree to be our wife, who would agree to our lifestyle. But it’s hard to find someone when you’re always traveling.”
The tinny piano began to play again, and Harley glanced around to see if the two men fighting had left. They were nowhere to be seen.
“You know, most Texas Rangers either quit or are killed. It's not a job for a family man. Or even being able to find a woman you could love forever. If we weren’t working, we’d be searching for a woman to share between us.”
“Amen,” Clayton said. “I’m agreeable to the idea of finding a woman to share for life, but only if we buy a ranch. I'm not willing to live in town and have your father interfering in our lives all the time. That’s not for me.”
This was what Harley was afraid of. If he took the money and the position his father offered, the man would think he owned him again. The money was tempting, but he didn’t know what to do. No matter how much he hated his father, the little boy inside him hoped he had changed. Hoped that he would accept him.
Suddenly a scream cut the air and he glanced over to see a woman being forcibly dragged from the saloon.
After the abuse his mother went through, this was what angered him the most. Oh hell, no. A man did not have the right or the privilege to harm a woman.
Jumping up from his chair, he knocked it over and all but ran to the woman’s side.
“What the hell is going on here?”
“None of your business,” the man with a long red scar on his face said, his eyes were dark and evil.
“She’s my wife and she disobeyed,” he said.
“No, I’m not, please help me. He’s going to kill me,” she cried. “There’s been a murder.”
“Shut the fuck up,” the man said as he back handed her across the face.
The woman screamed and that was Harley’s final rational thought. All the turmoil inside him broke loose as his fists curled and connected with the man’s face.
He grabbed the man’s shirt, and the jerk released the woman to hit Harley, but he ducked.
“You son of a bitch,” Harley growled. “No one has the right to hit a woman.”
The woman stood on the fringes staring at them.
“Don’t interfere,” the big, rugged man said.
Harley punched him in the face again. “I’m a Texas Ranger and I can interfere any damn time I want. Now get your ass out of here before I haul you off to jail."
The man staggered back, nose broken. He glanced at the woman. “Keep your mouth shut, do you understand me? I’ll be looking for you.”
“He killed a man,” she cried.
The man was shaking and Harley wondered what that was about. The man suddenly ran out of the saloon.
When Harley turned to look at the woman, Clayton was holding her in his arms while she cried. He stared at her blonde hair and emerald eyes covered with long dark lashes. Beautiful.
Gazing at her, it was like Harley was kicked in the chest. Like Cupid pulled back his bow and the arrow pierced his heart. Clayton had his arms wrapped around her and staring at him as if saying don’t you wish you were holding her?
His cock sprang to attention while his heart did a little pitter-patter.
“It’s all right.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I must speak to the sheriff. They killed a man. I saw it and that’s why he’s after me.”
Once again the saloon had gone quiet. Had he just let a murderer go? She had said he had killed a man, but was it true?
“We’ll escort you down to the sheriff’s office,” Clayton told her. “No one is going to harm you.”
“The sheriff is in bed,” one of the men standing around said.
“If there is a murder, he needs to know,” Harley said. “Someone fetch him from his bed. We’ll meet him down at the jail.”
“Thought you were Texas Rangers?” another man said.
The woman glanced at him. “You’re Texas Rangers?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Thank God. There is a man strung up in a tree on the edge of town. I saw them murder him.”
She would need protection and Harley knew they were just the men to take care of the gorgeous woman. He glanced at Clayton and knew he was thinking the same thing.
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe,” he said. “Stay with Clayton while I find the body.”
If the woman was smart, she would obey him and stay with Clayton. If not, he’d be tempted to turn her over his knee and give her a spanking. But never hard enough to hurt her. Never would he beat a woman. Never.
